Johnson City man sentenced to 18 years for role in fentanyl death
JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (WJHL) — A 20-year-old Johnson City man will serve 18 years in prison for selling a pill containing fentanyl that caused a 20-year-old woman’s death near East Tennessee State University on Sept. 9, 2022.
Zachary Bobadilla, who was indicted for the death in March 2023, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder under the drug statute, according to a news release from First Judicial District Attorney Steve Finney’s office.
Kingsport PD: NC murder suspect released from hospital
Bobadilla also pleaded to separate charges of possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony and possession of a Schedule II drug (fentanyl) for sale or delivery. The three-year weapon sentence and three-year possession sentence will be served concurrently to the homicide sentence.
News Channel 11 reported in March 2023 that Johnson City police questioned Bobadilla at an East Johnson City apartment the day of the overdose death and arrested him that day.
An affidavit for Bobadilla’s arrest from that same day stated Bobadilla admitted he was in possession of narcotics and pointed to a dresser. The affidavit said police recovered “a bottle of blue pills that investigators believed are Roxicodone,” along with suspected marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms.
The affidavit made no mention of a potentially related death but said the drugs would be sent to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) lab for testing. Tennessee state law changed in 2018 to allow a second-degree murder charge if any amount of fentanyl was found in an overdose victim’s system after death.
The death for which Bobadilla was convicted occurred during a period when the Johnson City area suffered a spate of overdose deaths. Robert Qualls Jr. and Brittany Fitzgerald were indicted in September 2023 for the Sept. 8, 2022 death of 34-year-old Timothy Kuykendall. They remain in the court system with plea deadlines scheduled for August.
PREVIOUS: Fentanyl suspected as overdose clusters continue
Assistant District Attorney Scott Shults and the Johnson City Police Department participated in the prosecution.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
